John B. Gorrie Coliseum and Multi-Purpose Building
John B. Gorrie Elementary School, Tampa, FL
John B. Gorrie Elementary is the oldest operating elementary school in Florida, and the client was the school’s Foundation. The project goal was to design a new 9,732 SF multi-purpose building on the campus of an existing historic elementary school in the Hyde Park Historic District in Tampa, Florida. The building provides a place for the whole school to convene for general school assemblies and musical and spoken word events, a place to play during bad weather, and a play court and bleachers for team sports such as basketball and volleyball. The building was designed to be reminiscent of the early coliseum or gymnasium building typologies popular in the last century. The project required presentations to the City Architectural Review Commission, as well as presentations to the City of Tampa Zoning for the closure of the road between the existing school and the new building.
The students at the school were asked to decorate a 4 x 4 porcelain tile in their art class. These tiles were then fired locally and used to decorate the walls of the boy’s and girl’s restrooms. See the image above.